What Your Baby will Need (6 to 12 Months)

You need to understand your baby’s needs to the ‘T’ in order to make sure the right growth and development of your baby. Read on to find more about the needs of 6 to 12 months old baby.There is lot of development and changes going on when an infant goes through 6 to 12 months of his age. Your baby will start sitting and crawling and hence his needs will become somewhat different. At this time of the age the child needs proper diet, proper rest and massage as well. At the time your infant turns 6 months old, you start introducing your child other food items apart from breast milk. You have to watch how and what food items your child accepts. This is the time to observe whether your child is having any kind of allergies or not. The second half of the first year sees lot of physical and mental changes in a child and you will be rewarded with his different activities and milestones. These achievements are obvious but specific and special for each child. You also have to take care and take precautions regarding safety of your child because this is the time when your child will try to put everything in his mouth. In this articleBaby’s FeedingBaby’s SleepNeeds of 6 to 12 Months Old Baby Baby’s Feeding Have a quick look at the feeding needs of 6 to 12 months old baby. Need of Adding New Food Items By this time you will have to start adding food items at least one time in his diet. Start with light and fluid food items and make sure they are easily digestible also. It is possible your infant may not accept it immediately. But keep trying. Just because it is a new taste for him, he might reject it once or twice. Avoid Frequent Changes in Diet Introduce one food item and give the same thing to your child for the nest 2 to 3 days at a stretch. Do not try to make changes frequently. The child and his body might take sometime getting adjusted with the new food items that you add. Need of Understanding your Baby’s Diet Some babies might continue with the milk feeding while some might start taking fluid food items easily. Always remember that babies differ at almost every point and so you should not compare your child with any other child of the same age. Only when a considerable amount of time has passed and your child is not showing symptoms of developments, you need to consult a professional. You can add cow’s milk, mashed potatoes, citrus fruits, rice cereals, apples and bananas and so on. You can also add egg whites and soft textured meats. Baby’s Sleep Read on to find about baby’s sleeping needs. Need of Making Sleeping Schedule Try to make a schedule of sleeping hours by the time your child is 6 months old. There can be some sleeping problems by this time as the baby starts understanding the surroundings, language and also starts giving proper reactions to different activities. Bedding, Safety and Comfort Once your baby starts taking outside food items, you do not need to feed him at night because he can easily remain full and contented till the morning. Just pay attention to the bedding, comfort and the safety of your child when he sleeps. Always keep in mind that as the time goes on your baby will become more mobile and so, you need to take care of the security more prudently. Along with taking into account the feed and sleeping needs of your child, you should also make sure that he gets a full body massage at least twice daily. Since the child is getting mobile, he will move around and get tired easily. Since infants do not understand fatigue, they will not stop when tired. A full body massage and a good sleep along with nutritious intake will make him healthy, fit and recharge him as well.